Varsity Publications Limited welcomes feedback regarding the material printed in any of our publications or any other aspect of our business.

If you wish to complain about anything published by Varsity or one of its associated publications, you should follow the procedure below.

You should initially address your complaint to the Editor (if it is regarding an editorial matter) or the Business Manager (for operational, commercial and advertising issues, editorial complaints in extremis, or complaints outside of term time) outlining your complaint, the issue number, page number and article headline, web page (or advertisement) it refers to. Please give as much detail as possible. If your complaint is specifically for publication you should mark it as such, however this will not guarantee publication. Similarly, if your complaint is not for publication, you should indicate this also.

Please note however, that for advertising complaints (both online and in print) it is rare that we can engage with you at length or in detail, other than reviewing your feedback (which must be sent to our Business Manager);  you do however, have the option of complaining direct to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The following complaints procedure will only be undertaken if the correspondence includes the name, address and contact details of the complainant; anonymous complaints cannot be accepted (or considered for publication).

1. All complaints must be sent either by post to our office address to: The Editor (or Business Manager), Varsity Publications Ltd, 16 Mill Lane Cambridge, CB2 1RX or via email to editor@varsity.co.uk  or to the Business Manager at business@varsity.co.uk, complainants must refrain from contacting other members of the Varsity team such as the section editors or individual contributors.
   1. Complaints cannot be considered if sent via social media or directed to the personal email addresses of the Varsity team or be taken over the telephone. In addition, Varsity also asks all complainants to refrain from harassment or other threatening behaviour when in communication with the Editor (or Business Manager) and indeed any other member of the Varsity team.
   2. In addition, although we seek to maintain the highest levels of professionalism, please be aware that we are a student newspaper and not an operation that is staffed full-time. Therefore, it may take additional time in order to deal with your complaints than you might expect from a regional or national newspaper, particularly if your complaint is received outside of term-time.
   3. Please note that Varsity, except in exceptional circumstances, is not able to typically consider complaints from third parties regarding the content we publish, excepting of course complaints made on your behalf by your own appointed, qualified legal advisers.
2. The Editor (or Business Manager) will then respond to resolve your complaint informally and, where appropriate, offer a resolution to the problem.
3. If you feel that you have exhausted your line of communication with the Editor (or Business Manager) and are not satisfied with the response, you should send your complaint for attention of the Board of Directors of the company, explaining the details of your initial complaint and why you feel it has not been satisfactorily resolved by your initial contact(s) with the Editor (or Business Manager). This process can be instigated by writing to the Board of Directors at the postal address above or by emailing our Business Manager – please clearly mark the correspondence for the attention of the "Varsity Board of Directors".
4. The Varsity Board may choose meet to discuss the issue, either at the next scheduled Board Meeting or at a specially arranged meeting if appropriate. You may or may not be invited to attend this meeting. The Board may also choose to depute individual Board members to meet and discuss the complaint. In addition, the board may choose to discuss the complaint electronically. A member of the Board will then contact you in response to your complaint.
5. If you are still dissatisfied with the action taken by the Board, you should reply to your contact from the Board to explain why. If you feel it is appropriate, and depending on the nature of your complaint, you of course have the right to take the matter to a higher authority, such as the Independent Press Standards Organisation, the body would depend on the exact nature of your grievance. The addresses of such bodies are available in the public domain or on request from the Business Manager. Please note that Varsity is not a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation although Varsity considers the Independent Press Standards Organisation (“IPSO”) Editors’ Code of Practice to be generally a sound statement of ethical behaviour for journalists. All Varsity journalists are required where possible, to adhere to their Code of Practice.
6. If the Board decides it is inappropriate to contact you further you will be informed of this, also the matter may be passed to our legal advisers to be dealt with.
7. You should note that Varsity Publications Limited is a limited company independent of the University of Cambridge, any students’ unions and such associated organisations. It is therefore not possible, in most instances, for these bodies to deal with your complaint. Also, please note that Varsity Publications Ltd is not and has never been a member of the 'Student Publication Association' (SPA) or any such other similar organisations.
8. Varsity treats all complaints seriously and aims to deal with them promptly and professionally. On occasion, we may need to consult our own legal advisers and appropriate regulatory bodies before responding to your complaint. We will aim to contact you if a significant delay in responding is to be expected.
9. All complaints escalated for Board consideration are kept on file for future reference.
10. Please note that although complaints are kept confidential as much as possible, they may be read by people other than the person you address it to, in connection with the procedures detailed above. We would also ask you to note that any personal reply you receive in response to your complaint (formal or informal) should be regarded as 'private and personal' correspondence and is strictly not for publication on social media or elsewhere.
11. For further explanation of these points or additional advice, please contact the Business Manager (business@varsity.co.uk) or your own legal adviser.

Data Protection

Varsity is fully compliant with the GDPR legislation implemented in the United Kingdom.

A full copy of Varsity’s current GDPR review and policy document can be found here: Varsity Data Protection Statement

You have the right to request a copy of the personal information Varsity holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected in certain circumstances.

There is no charge for this.

Please ensure you read the full Varsity GDPR policy and review and policy document mentioned above before submitting your request.

Please address Data Protection requests or queries to Dr Mike Franklin, Data Protection Officer, Varsity Publications Ltd, 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX or via email to chairman@varsity.cam.ac.uk